Auxiliary-air-supply device for internal-combustion engines



C. A) RIVERS ET AL AUXILIARY AIR SUPPLYYDEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Aug. 12,

Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHABLESAZ. RIVERS AND FRANCIS BACON STUART, OF EL PASO, TEXAS; ARA. M.

RIVERS ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF SAID CHARLES RIVERS, D

CE ASED.

AUXILIARY-AIR-SUPPLY DEVICE FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed August 12, 1920. Serial No. 402,996.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. RIVERS and FRANCIS B. STUART, citizens of the -United States, and residents of the city of El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Auxiliary-Air- Sup= ply Devices for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to an improved auxiliary air supply device for internal combustion engines, and broadly considered contemplates the provision of simple and reliable means for automatically regulating the supply of auxiliary air to the combustible mixture in accordance with the operatin speed of the engine.

ore particularly the present improvement comprehends the provision ofmeans for sensitively controlling the operation and adjustment of the auxiliary air supply valve by means of the rearwardly directed air current from the radiator fan with which the motor is equipped.

We also propose to provide a device of the character referred to which may be readily adjusted and positioned so as to insure the requisite degree of valve opening at the various engine speeds, whereby exactly the necessary volume of auxiliary air will be supplied to the mixture so as to thereby obviate the admission of an overrich mixture to the engine cylinders, which results in a' more or less heavy deposition of carbon, and very materially decreases the effective power developed in the operation of the engine.

Further we contemplate the provision of a very simple and reliably operating attachment or accessory for motor vehicle engines which can be readily applied to various types of engines now used upon motor vehicles without requiringany radical alterations in their structure, or necessitating 'a high degree of mechanical skill in the application of the device.

' With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction, combination and arrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanyin drawings, and subsequently incorporate in the subjoined claims In the drawings, wherein we have illustrated one satisfactory and practical embodiment of the invention, and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation of a motor vehicle engine having the well known Ford type of intake manifold, and showing one embodiment of our present invention in its applied position.

Figure 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale, of the attachment removed from the engine.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the device.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2, and,

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Considering the drawings in detail, we have conventionally illustrated a motor vehicle engine generally indicated by the numeral 5, which is equipped with intake and exhaust manifolds 6 and 7 respectively of the well known Ford type, said manifolds being held in connection with the cylinder parts by the clamping members 8 mounted upon the stud bolts 9. 10 indicates the air circulating fan of the water cooling system with which the engine is equipped, said fan being driven by suitable connections with the engine shaft in the usual manner.

In one adaptation of our invention we provide a supporting bracket which, as herein illustrated, may be stamped from a single plate of metal. This bracket includes an arm 11 disposed in a vertical plane, an intermediate angularly disposed portion 12 extending at right angles to said arm, and a second arm 13 on the end of the intermediate portion 12, disposed in spaced parallel relation to the arm 11 and above the plane of the latter arm. The arm 13 is provided upon its lower edge .with lugs or projections which are notched or recessed, as at 14. These notches are adapted to receive the clamp supporting stud bolts 9 so that when the clamping nuts are threaded upon the ends of said bolts, the arm 13 of the bracket will be rigidly clamped a ainst the manifold clamping members 8. en the bracket is disposed in this position, it will be observed from reference to Figure 1 that the intermediate portion .12 of the valve17 of any suitable type is rotatably.

mounted and controls communication between the air supply pipe 18 and a conducting pipe 19, the latter pipe being extended longitudinally and connected to the intake manifold 6 of the engine. Preferably, the pipe 18 is extended alongside of the exhaust manifold 7 so that atmospheric air entering the open end of the pipe 18 will be preheated before entering the pipe 19. In this pipe 18 a second manually operable valve 20 is mounted.

The rod 21 of the valve 17 is extended exteriorly of the casting 15, and to this rod one end of an arm 22 1s fixed. The other end of this arm is angularly twisted, and to the same a relatively broad metal blade 23 is adjustably connected at one of its ends, said end of the blade being provided with a series of longitudinally spaced openings 24 to receive the bolts 25, whereby said blade may be adjustably secured to the arm 22. The blade 23 is longitudinally curved, as shown in Figure 1, and is positioned adjacent to and at the rear of the fan 10, and in the vertical plane of the axis of .the fan shaft, as clearly appears from Fig.

3. As is well known, in engines of the Ford type, the vertical plane of the axis of the fan shaft passes through substantially the center line of the engine casing and cylinders. Accordingly, in the described construction, the plate 23 is interposed between the fan 10 and the engine casing, so

that it is out of the path of air currents resulting from movement of the car, and is consequently aflt'ected to a minimum degreeby such air currents. The action of the late 23 therefore depends upon the speed of the fan and hence. of the engine, regardless of the speed of travel of the car.

To the casting 15 an arm 26 is fixed. One end of a coil spring 27 is attached to this arm, and the other end of said spring is adapted for adjustable connection to the arm 22, said arm having a series of Ion tudinally spaced openings 28 therem, through any one of which the end of the spring may be engaged. It will be understood that b a roper adjustment of the connection 0 sai spring with the arm 21 the tension of the spring may be suitably re lated.

n the operation of the device as above described, when the engine is started both of the valves 17 and 20 are closed so that cold air will not be drawn into the engine cylinders After the engine has been started, and its speed increases, the manually operable valve 20 is opened, and as the speed of rotation of the fan 10 increases correspondingly to the engine speed, it will be understood that the current of air driven rearwardly by this fan against the forward concave face of the blade 23 forces said blade rearwardly, thereby rotating the valve 17 and against the tension of the spring 27. This valve 16 is thereby opened from its normal closed position, the extent .of such opening depending upon the force exerted against the blade 23. Thereby communication is established between the pipes 18 and 19,, and by reason of the vacuum in the engine cylinders, heated atmospheric air will be drawn through the pipes 18 and 19, and enter into the intake manifold, where it becomes thoroughly mixed with the combustible mixture, supplied by the carburetor, prior to the entrance of such mixture into the engine cylinders, Thus a leaner mixture will be supplied to the cylinders, resulting in a maximum developent of power with a minimum consumpt on of fuel.

- From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of our invention will be clearly understood. It will be .appreciated that such a device will be highly sensitive in its action, and will operate automatically to control the volume of auxiliary atmospheric air admitted to the intake manifold in proportion to vari ations in speed in the operation of the engine. By properly adjusting the blade 23 upon the arm 22, said blade may be so positioned relative to the fan 10 that it will receive the full force or impact of the rearwardly directed air from said fan, said force causing a rotary movement of the valve 17.

In view of the relatively small number of parts constituting the device, and their simple form and construction, it will be apparent that there is little to get out'of order, so that the present invention provides a very desirable accessory for motor vehicle engines.

construction of supporting bracket for the auxiliary air supply valve and its adjunctive parts, which is particularly designed for the application of our present improvement to the Ford. type of automobile engine. It is, however, manifest-that by adoptin other forms of this supporting bracket, anfincorporating such other minor mechanical alterations as may be necessary, the device can as well be used in connection with other makes of motor vehicle engines.-- It isfurther to be borne in mind that while we have herein disclosed one satisfactory and practical embodiment of the device, the same may, nevertheless, be exemplified in numerous other modified constructions, and we, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes and modifications in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several elements as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim:

1. In combination with a manifold, an air supply thereto, a valve governing the air supply, and a vane positively coupled to operate said valve in either direction and lying rearwardly of the motor fan and in line with the draft therefrom, said vane being biased in the closed position of the valve to a forwardly projecting position with the plane of the vane forming a small acute angle with the horizontal whereby to receive diagonally a portion only of the draft from the fan, the pitch or initial inclination of the vane being such as to be afiected only lightly at first, the draft gradually raising the vane progressively nearer to a vertical position during increased speeds of the engine proportionally to such increased speeds and in direct proportion to the force of the draft upon the vane, said vane adapted to move to a substantially vertical position whereupon the valve is arranged to be in a fully open position, said vane in the vertical position'adapted to lie at substantially right angles to the direction of the air currents set up by said motor fan whereby to secure the full effective force of the air currents to hold the valve in the fully open position.

2. In an auxiliary air supp-1y device for internal combustion engines, an air supply pipe adapted to be connected to the intake side of the engine, a valve in said pipe controlling the flow of air therethrough, means for normally urging said valve into a closed position, a pivoted member connected to said valve and arranged in the line of draft of the cooling fan of the engine for receiving impact of air from said fan for successively opening the valve by increased speed of the engine, said pivoted member being inclined forwardly toward the fan for normally presenting an inclined Working face to the line of draft and adapted when operated to suecessively present said working face toward a right angular position with respect to the line of the draft whereby to increase resistance to the line of draft and effect increased pressure on said pivoted member, and means for adjusting the working length of said pivoted member whereby to vary the effective leverage of said member relatively to the said means for normally urging the valve into a closed position.

3. In an auxiliary air supply device for internal combustion engines, a pipe connected at one end to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine, a bracket mounted upon the forward end of the engine for sup-porting said pipe with one end opening above the engine to receive heated air in the pipe, a normally closed valve mounted in said pipe, air pressure operated means connected to said valve and arranged in line with the cooling fan of the engine for opening said valve upon operation of the engine at a predetermined rate of speed, and a manually controlled valve mounted in said pipe adapted for operation independently of the first mentioned valve whereby to offset admission of air to said intake manifold independently of the operation of said first valve.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention, We have signed our names hereunder.

CHARLES A. RIVERS. FRANCIS BACON STUART. 

